DENVER Seniors Nikki Brown (Louisville, Ky.) and Jessica Lpez (Caracas, Venezuela) each earned individual event titles and the Pioneers posted their highest road score of the season, but No. 16 Arizona narrowly edged the University of Denver gymnastics squad 195.350-195.025 at Arizona’s McKale Center on Friday night.
Brown picked up a share of the beam title, tying her season best with a 9.825, while Lpez claimed first place on bars and shared the crowns on vault and floor. She also earned her fifth all-around title of the season with a score of 39.450.
Denver (11-8) opened the meet on bars and nailed all six routines. Led by Lpez’s first place 9.900, DU posted four scores over 9.775 to earn its highest bars team score of the season at 49.050. Freshman Louise Mercer (Nottingham, England) tied for fourth at 9.825, while sophomore Annamari Maaranen (Tampere, Finland) tied her career high with a 9.800.
On vault, Lpez tied her season-best score at 9.900 to tie for first place with Arizona’s Deanna Graham. Fellow senior Lauren Garan (Cos Cob, Conn.) registered a career-high 9.875 to finish in a tie for third with UA’s Breanne Workman.
Lpez led Denver on floor in a tie for first place at 9.875, followed by sophomore Amanda Johanson (Park City, Utah) in third place with a 9.825.
Brown and Arizona’s Briana Bergeson tied for first on beam at 9.825, while Garan scored a 9.800 to tie for third with Colleen Fisher. Lpez tied for fourth on beam with a 9.775.
DU shared a part of each individual event title in addition to winning the uneven bars team title. Arizona and Denver also posted identical 48.975 team scores on vault.
The Pioneers return to Hamilton Gymnasium for their final home meet of the season on Monday, March 9 at 7 p.m. against BYU.
Denver will honor its four seniors, Brown, Garan, Lpez and Liz Meals (Pittsburgh, Pa.), at the meet along with celebrating Pioneer Faculty, Staff and Retiree Appreciation Night. Tickets for the meet are available by calling the DU Ticket Office at 303-871-2336 or visiting www.DenverPioneers.com.
DU faculty and staff members along with retirees are invited to a reception for complimentary food and drinks at 5:30 p.m. in the Gottesfeld Room prior to the meet. Each faculty, staff and retiree member will receive a DU t-shirt with their Pioneer ID card.
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